little white truths

I had so many products on the short-list to be favourites this month that I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself!

So I've had to whittle down my list from twelve items to five, which wasn't easy but I do prefer to stick to five products each month so then I'm only bringing you the best of the best.

In no particular order...

Hourglass Confession Ultra Slim High Intensity Refillable Lipstick in I've Never

Full review here. I can't get enough of this thing, and I do intend to buy another couple once my makeup spending ban has lifted. Yes they're expensive, but damn that packaging is out of this world and I feel so special whenever I use it that I reckon the outlay is worth it - something I've never said before with a high-end lipstick because you can find so many good ones on a budget.

While it's true that the formula is great - it lasts well and you only need a little each time because it's so pigmented - I will say that it doesn't minimise my lip texture, which is the only reason why I haven't given the formula an HG tag. Still, I can fix that issue with a gloss so all is not lost.

If you haven't gone in-store and held one of these things, please do. They're pretty hard to let go of once you have one in your hands!

Marc Jacobs Eye-Conic Multi-Finish Eyeshadow Palette in Provocouture

I recently dented this palette as part of Project Dent and it was an absolute pleasure to use. I never tired of it and I had lots of fun playing around with the different colours - which are more neutral and everyday appropriate in practice than you might think. I've reviewed it here.

Indeed, I love this formula so much that silly me I went ahead and bought four more. I was able to justify this to myself because I don't own ridiculous amounts of eyeshadow and many of the colours I bought were missing from my collection, and I don't regret the purchases for a moment: they all work for me and I get so much enjoyment from using them.

If you haven't swatched these in-store, I urge you to have a play. Yes they're Marc Jacobs so they're not cheap, but if you find one you love, you can always wait for one of Sephora's 20% off sales and go for gold.

Dermalogica Daily Superfoliant

Full review here. As you may know, I haven't had a lot of luck with Dermalogica as a brand - but this particular product is great and I'm glad I found it because it works beautifully for my skin.

It's a powder exfoliant and you add water before buffing it across your face, and it manages to resurface my skin very gently while still being super effective: my face always looks brighter and feels smoother after use.

The other bonus with a powder product like this is that they last forever, so I can see this full-size lasting me a couple of years (and thankfully it has a 24 month shelf-life) - which means it's not a bad investment, all things considered. Definitely worth trying.

Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder in Translucent

This is one of those products that I worried might be over-hyped, but when it arrived and I tried it for the first time, I realised why it has such a huge following in the beauty community.

I don't know what witchery is in this, but it airbrushes the skin like nobody's business and my pores all but vanish with a stroke of my brush. Honestly, it's quite incredible. I've reviewed it here.

Yes it stinks, and even though I'd heard that plenty of times, I still couldn't believe how much fragrance they've put in this thing when I first opened it. My golly. Thankfully you can buy a fragrance-free version these days so I'll certainly opt for that next time. It's also not expensive and you get a tonne of product, so it'll last for ages.

Kevyn Aucoin The Etherealist Skin Illuminating Foundation

Full review here. I have two HG foundations, and this is one of them. I prefer my Koh Gen Do Aqua for day-use because it has a little less coverage and is undetectable on my skin, but this one's better for night-use or big events because the coverage is better and it's also buildable, which the KGD isn't.

What I love about this product is that it's incredibly natural on the skin while still doing a beautiful job of evening out imperfections, and a little goes a long way so I only need one pump to get a solid medium coverage that looks like skin.

If you have dry skin and want something that looks heavenly and feels hydrating, grab a sample. Sure it's not cheap, but given that I don't need much per application, it's going to last me a while. Love.

In sum

Them's my favourites! Gosh it was hard to narrow things down this month, but I'm happy with the five items I chose.

Also note that I've been doing my monthly favourites posts a little early lately - just to avoid having a chunk of posts that I need to write at the end of each month.

Do let me know in the comments what you've been loving lately: I'd love to hear.

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x

I just realised that my last skincare inventory was mid-May (see here), so it's been three months since then and I thought I'd check back in now and do an updated one.

If you're interested, my December 2017 inventory is here and my March 2018 one is here.

Do note that I haven't been on a no buy since mid-May, but I have been on a skincare low buy so hopefully my numbers haven't gone up too much!

We shall see...

Makeup remover

Previously I had two and I still have two (one open full-size and one unopened back-up).

One is my ultimate goal, but I don't mind having a back-up so I'm not worried about this category. 

Cleansing oils/balms

I had one and I now have two: one cleansing oil and one cleansing balm. That's pretty restrained for me because I love these kinds of cleansers, so I'm happy with that!

Two is my goal so we're there.

Cleansers

This is all other cleansers aside from oils and balms, and it's one of my bad categories. Previously I had six cleansers and I now have seven, being four open full-sizes and three unopened back-ups (two full-size, one travel-size).

I'm not too worried about this category because two of my open cleansers are almost dead, and while my ultimate goal was four, I'm adjusting that to four open cleansers plus a couple of back-ups because I do get through cleansers reasonably quickly and I like to have some unopened ones on hand.

Exfoliants

I had three and I now have five, being one open full-size plus two unopened full-sizes and two unopened travel-sizes.

The numbers have fluctuated here because I received a couple as GWPs and also bought myself a microdermabrasion kit, which I'd been meaning to do for ages.

Two's my goal here so I have some work to do.

Toners

For toners, I'm not only including standard toners but also 'treatment' ones (eg my glycolic toner from Alpha-H). In my last inventory I had two, one being a standard toner and one being a glycolic acid product, and I now have three: one standard toner, one glycolic toner and an unopened glycolic toner.

Two was my goal but I don't mind having the back-up because I'm halfway through my open glycolic toner anyway.

Acids/treatments

The products in this category are from The Ordinary and I wanted to make a separate heading for them because they don't really fit into any other category.

Before I had three, and I still have three (one being unopened).

That was my goal so yay.

Serums

Before I had three and I still have three, being two open full-sizes and one unopened back-up.

My goal was three so we're there.

Eye creams

I had three and I now have four (two being unopened).

Three is a good goal for me (one for morning, one for night and one for overnight), so I'd like to reduce this category down by one.

Day cream

Previously I had four and I now have three (one open travel-size, one unopened full-size and an unopened travel-size).

My aim was two but I don't mind the extra because the smaller sizes will go soon enough.

Night cream/overnight cream

Previously I had two and I now have five (one open full-size, three unopened full-sizes and one unopened travel-size). Oops! A couple of these were GWPs, but I do need to work on this category so I'll have to stop buying night creams for now.

Two is my goal with this category.

Oils

I had three and I still have three (two of which are unopened), although I've almost finished one so I'm not worried about this category.

Two is my goal here.

Masks

In my last inventory I had seven and I now have six (four open full-sizes, one unopened one and an unopened travel-size).

My goal is four. Given I had thirteen at one point, I'm pretty happy with this category!

Unopened skincare kits 

Previously I had three and I now have two. When I did my December inventory, I wasn't able to count the items in each kit individually because I knew I was getting some sets for Christmas but I didn't know what was in them - so I've been tied to that and I've just had to roll with it.

I don't really have a goal here, but I don't want any more than four unopened kits at a time.